Court Quashes Youth Climate Change Case Against Government

A federal appeals court has thrown out the landmark climate change lawsuit brought on behalf of young people against the federal government.

Kelsey Juliana, a lead plaintiff in the climate change lawsuit against
 the federal government, at the Supreme Court in September. 

While the young plaintiffs “have made a compelling case that action is needed,” wrote Judge Andrew D. Hurwitz in a 32-page opinion, climate change is not an issue for the courts. “Reluctantly, we conclude that such relief is beyond our constitutional power. Rather, the plaintiffs’ impressive case for redress must be presented to the political branches of government.”

The two members in the majority of the three-judge panel thus agreed with the Trump administration that the issues brought up in the case, Juliana v. United States did not belong before the courts.

The appeals court decision reverses an earlier ruling by a district court judge, Ann Aiken, that would have let the case go forward. Instead, the appeals court gave instructions to the lower court to dismiss the case.

Read the story from The New York Times by John Schwartz - “Court Quashes Youth Climate Change Case Against Government.”